Icons
Hodegetria
The Mother of God holds the Child and points to him with her other hand — the most widespread type, including the Smolensk, Tikhvin and Iveron icons.
Церковный справочник
Что означают слова, которые звучат в храме: облачения, богослужения, таинства, устройство храма.
Разделы
Sacraments
The seven sacraments of the Church: Baptism, Confession, Communion, Marriage, Unction and the rest.
Divine services
Liturgy, vigil, vespers, moleben, panikhida — what each service is and how they differ.
Vestments
Cassock, riassa, phelonion, epitrachelion, mitre — the clergy's garments and what they mean.
Parish practice
How to submit a commemoration note, light a candle, ask a blessing and prepare for confession.
The church building
Narthex, altar, iconostasis, solea, ambo, kliros — the parts of a church and their purpose.
Church utensils
Chalice, diskos, censer, lampada, antimension, epitaphios — the objects used in worship.
Clergy and ranks
Patriarch, bishop, archpriest, deacon, reader — who is who in church and how to address them.
Icons
What an icon is, how it differs from a painting, and how to recognise the most common images.
Feasts and fasts
The Twelve Great Feasts, the patronal day, the four fasts, old and new style.
Books and chant
Typikon, Menaion, Octoechos, Triodion; troparion, kontakion, sticheron, litany.
Ranks of sanctity
Martyr, hierarch, venerable, blessed — why saints are titled differently and what it means.
Found: 229
Church utensils
Holy myrrh (chrism)
The fragrant oil prepared and consecrated by the Patriarch, used for chrismation — once in a lifetime, immediately after baptism.
Church utensils
Holy vessels
The chalice, diskos, asterisk, spear and spoon — the set used to celebrate the Liturgy, reserved for that alone.
Parish practice
Holy water
Water blessed by the Church: the Great Sanctification at Theophany, or a lesser blessing at other times.
Books and chant
Horologion
The reader's book: everything in the daily services that stays the same from day to day.
Clergy and ranks
How to address the clergy
A priest is addressed as Father with his name, a bishop as Vladyka, the patriarch as Your Holiness.
Parish practice
How to behave in church
A few simple things worth knowing in church: when not to walk about, whether one may sit, what to do with phones and children.
Parish practice
How to dress for church
What is customary to wear to church and why: clothing that does not draw attention to itself.
Parish practice
How to prepare for Communion
Fasting, the prayer rule, confession and the Chalice itself: what is customary before Communion and how to approach.
Parish practice
How to prepare for confession
What to do before confession and how it goes: recall your sins, name them plainly, make peace with people, and speak in your own words.
Parish practice
How to venerate an icon
Cross yourself twice with a bow, kiss the icon, then cross yourself once more; one kisses the hand or hem, not the face.
Icons
Icon
An image of Christ, the Mother of God, a saint or a sacred event, made for prayer — not a painting and not a portrait.
The church building
Iconostasis
The icon screen dividing sanctuary from nave; its icons are arranged in tiers, each with its own meaning.
Icons
Icons of the Theotokos: the main types
There are hundreds of Marian icons but only a few types — Hodegetria, Eleusa, Oranta and the enthroned Theotokos — enough to identify almost any of them.
Church utensils
Incense
The fragrant tree resin burned in the censer; its rising smoke is a visible image of prayer.
Icons
Inscriptions on icons
IC XC, MP ΘΥ, NIKA, Ο ΩΝ — the short inscriptions that complete an icon and let you read it rather than merely look at it.
Books and chant
Irmos
The opening strophe of each ode of the canon: it is sung, and it sets the melody and metre for the troparia that follow.
Vestments
Kamilavka
A stiff brimless cylindrical hat: an award for priests, the base of the monastic klobuk.
Parish practice
Kanun (memorial stand)
The square stand with a crucifix where candles for the departed are placed and food offerings left.
Books and chant
Kathisma
One of the twenty divisions of the Psalter for liturgical reading; the name means «sitting».
The church building
Kliros (choir place)
The place for singers and readers at the ends of the solea, right and left of the iconostasis.
Vestments
Klobuk
A kamilavka covered with a veil — the monastic headdress; white for a metropolitan.
Books and chant
Kontakion
A short hymn sung right after the troparion, approaching the same feast from another side.
Parish practice
Kutia
A memorial dish of boiled grain with honey and raisins, blessed at the memorial service.
Church utensils
Lampada (oil lamp)
A small oil lamp with a floating wick burning before an icon — never extinguished in church, lit at home for prayer.
Books and chant
Lenten Triodion
The book for the weeks before Great Lent, Lent itself and Holy Week.
Divine services
Lesser blessing of water
A moleben with the blessing of water — the lesser rite, which may be served on any day, unlike the great blessing performed only at Theophany.
Books and chant
Litany
A series of short petitions proclaimed by the deacon, to each of which the choir answers «Lord, have mercy».
Divine services
Litia
A word with two meanings: a part of the vigil at which bread is blessed, and a short memorial service served at the grave or at home.
Vestments
Liturgical colours
Vestment colour changes with the church year, telling you what day it is before the service begins.